I've been pretty lax this winter, we are going to get into more agility once the nicer weather breaks, and some light weight pulling to build up her behind muscles. Thanks for the honest (snarkey, LOL) advice!! I'm thinking she could stand to lose 5-7 lbs....what do you think?

Purple wrote:I've been pretty lax this winter, we are going to get into more agility once the nicer weather breaks, and some light weight pulling to build up her behind muscles. Thanks for the honest (snarkey, LOL) advice!! I'm thinking she could stand to lose 5-7 lbs....what do you think?

At least 5-7. It's hard to say, since I can't put my hands on her in person. But, from what I can see in the pictures, I'd say at least 10, if not 20.

I agree... slim that pretty gal down. The less weight she has to put on her new false joints the better IMO

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A chicken leg and a half a cup of kibble.....wow, that hardly seems like enough....(not being snarkey).....is that really enough food? Lordy....I am overfeeding then......She gets two cups of Nature's Variety kibble mixed with a quarter can of Merrick canned.....I am going to have to cut back. YIKES!

Purple wrote:A chicken leg and a half a cup of kibble.....wow, that hardly seems like enough

LOL, well SHE'd love to have more...! But I've been feeding her this way for close to 2 years now and she does really well on it.

I feed Timberwolf for the kibble and she was getting 3/4 cup but she was getting plump so I cut it back. You can't see any ribs so she's not that lean. Sometimes she gets a little more raw meat and those days she gets less kibble at night. I don't feed canned but I do give her a few table scraps when we have them.

She's been the same weight for several years now. Her coat is like velvet and she has lots of muscle. She's not the most active dog, she is happy snoozing a lot of the day. She gets one good long walk every day and some yard play with the flirt pole a few times a week. I wish she would play fetch but she won't.

Jeez, I would have to get over the guilt of feeding her so little...(LOL)...she is VERY active, even when I am not. She can play outside with her ball for hours, tossing up in the air, chasing it.....she propels it with her front legs and chases it...., and we have a mini agility course in our basement we play around with. She also plays with her cube and or ball in the morning in the basement while my husband works out for about an hour. You dog is obviously not starving to death, so I just need to get over myself!

That 1/2 cup of kibble looks pretty puny in her dish so I have been adding about 3/4 cup of warm water to it about 15 or 20 minutes before I feed her. The kibble soaks it up and it looks like she is getting so much more! It's just water but it does help to fill them up.

I also feed some Nature's Variety, I have a small sample bag and mix some in with the TW once in awhile. It's a good food, maybe just give her a bit less?

For the morning raw food, Fremiet gets chicken, venison, turkey, veal, or lamb, whatever's on sale. I did get a dented can of Merricks for 40 cents, wow she loved that, but I normally don't bother with canned.
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Thanks, for dealing with me....I think I will cut her back gradually. Tomorrow I will start with a cup and a half of kibble and a quarter can of canned....(She gets a quarter of a can because we split it between the four dogs) I have to rmemmber to add the syn-flex supplement MaryEllen recommended, too......Thanks for your help and advice....and if ya think of anything else.....

Purple wrote:Thanks, for dealing with me....I think I will cut her back gradually. Tomorrow I will start with a cup and a half of kibble and a quarter can of canned....(She gets a quarter of a can because we split it between the four dogs) I have to rmemmber to add the syn-flex supplement MaryEllen recommended, too......Thanks for your help and advice....and if ya think of anything else.....

One Cup!

She will think she's being starved to death, but she will live.

Here is Grant, not even in his best physical shape. He eats 2 cups a day of Canidae, and is INSANELY active.

Yes, the amount of food often depends on how active the dog is! Each dog is different and some just burn it up while others are sofa slugs. One dog will get fat on the amount of food another will starve on. So you have to be aware of this and tailor it to your own dogs.

And don't forget to factor in treats. If you feed a lot of treats during the day, you'd want to feed less dinner at night. Or cut down the treats entirely. Mine only gets bits of kibble for treats most of the time and I'd say she only gets about 6 or 8 of them in a day. But some give big biscuits and those can fill a dog up. Carrots don't have much in them, but apples have a lot of sugar so I'd give her less apples.

Both dogs look great, and that brindle is definately camoflauge....even when she's out back playing, you can't see her, so how are we supposed to see the muscle!! LOL!
You guys have been great, Thanks!